Siege of Vicksburg

The Siege of Vicksburg (18 May-4 July 1863) was a major battle of the American Civil War that occurred when the 77,000-strong Union Army of the Tennessee under Ulysses S. Grant besieged the 33,000-strong Confederate Army of Tennessee under John C. Pemberton in the port of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Vicksburg was the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, making it a vital stronghold for the Confederacy in the Western Theater; the Union began operations in the area in December 1862, and the campaign to capture the city began in March 1863. On 19 and 22 May 1863, two Union assaults against the city were repelled with heavy losses, so General Grant decided to besiege the city. The city's supplies ran out and no Confederate reinforcements arrived, demoralizing the starving defenders and inhabitants of the city. Pemberton decided to surrender after a forty-day siege and a valiant defense by the Confederates, and the Confederate losses were near-total, with 29,495 Confederate troops entering captivity. The capture of Vicksburg, paired with the Battle of Gettysburg on 3 July 1863, marked a turning point in the war, as the Confederacy was no longer on the winning side of the war, and the Union cut off the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas from the rest of the Confederacy.